High number of voters register for election

Nineteen centenarians plan to be among up the thousands of Bermudians who will cast their votes on December 17.

About 94 percent of residents who are qualified to vote have actually registered for the next election.

The one-week registration period ended on Friday with 43,767 people registered out of the 46,678 who are qualified to vote. Just 2,911 people did not get on the register for the December 17 poll before the registration deadline expired.

For the 2007 election, 41,961 people registered to vote and 32,282 actually voted, a 77 percent turnout Island-wide.

St Davids and St Georges South are the districts with the most registered voters, with 1,349 and 1,344 respectively — and over 10 percent more than the mean number of voters.

Both districts are home to public housing projects — emergency housing at Southside, and the Harbourside village.

Parliamentary Registrar Randy Scott said that a trend of people moving away from the central parishes to the extremities of the Island is another likely factor in the variances in the east.

Pembroke East has the fewest registered voters — 1,088 — or 10.5 percent below the mean of 1,216.

A five percent variance was considered acceptable by the Boundaries Commission when the boundaries were redrawn two years ago.

Warwick South Central, considered a ruling party stronghold, has the highest number of people qualified to vote who did not register (107), while Smiths North, considered a marginal, had the lowest (57).

But St Georges West and St Davids each had 102 voters qualified voters who did not register.

The two marginal districts of St Georges North and St Georges South also had relatively high registrations — with the numbers of unregistered coming in at 68 and 66 respectively.

"The Progressive Labour Party is pleased to observe that such a large amount of qualified voters have taken the responsibility to ensure they are registered to vote, said a ruling party spokesperson.

We anticipate that on December 17, there will be a large turnout to decide this election. We are confident that the voters of Bermuda will return a Progressive Labour Party Government that has stood strong for Bermudians through these tough challenges of the past few years.

We are pleased to see the interest, and welcome the participation, as Bermuda as a whole benefits when Bermudians exercise their right to vote, and this right can only be exercised if one is registered."

One Bermuda Alliance Chairman Thad Hollis said: This is an outstanding result and one that bodes well for full participation on voting day.

Of the oldest citizens, those over 100 years old, 19 are registered to vote according to figures provided by the Parliamentary Registrar. Another 427 registered voters are in the 90 to 99 age group, 2,148 between the ages of 80 and 89, while 4,233 70 to 79 year olds are registered to vote.

Fifteen percent of the registered voters (6,651) are between the ages of 18 and 29, but those aged between 50 and 59 represent the highest proportion (21 percent) of registered voters by age — or 9,024 voters.

Those between the ages of 40 and 49 come next at 18.6 percent or 8,143 voters.

High number of voters register for election

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